Breeches-buoy.



PATENTED DEC. 18, 1906.

J. W. DALTON.

BREEGHES BUOY. APPLICATION FILED NOV.2'1. 1906.

Johhwlfred Dalton,

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN WILFRED DALTON, OF SANDWICH, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO DALTON LIFE-SAVING APPLIANCE (10., A CORPORATION OF MASSA- OHUSETTS.

BREECHES-BUOY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 18, 1906.

To (oil whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN WILFRED DAL- TON, a citizen'of the United States, residing at Sandwich, in the county of Barnstable and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Breeches-Buoys, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improvement in breeches-buoys, and has for its object the improvement of said apparatus to assist the life-saving crew in the work of rescue and to protect the occupant of the buoy against certain injuries which are frequently inflicted by the life-saving appliances, and particularly by the traveler-block of the breechesbuoy itself. These blocks as commonly used are very heavy and being located, as they are, directly over the passenger are a constant menace to his safety, as any slackening of the main hawser, due to the lurching of the vessel or the breakage of any of the supports, allows it to drop upon his head.

The present invention contemplates an interposed cushioning device to protect the passenger against any such dropping of the block and also provides for certain other features of improvement for the safety of the passenger and the assistance ofthe life saving crew. These features will be more fully described in the specification which follows and are illustrated in the drawings forming a part thereof, in which like figures of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout, and in which Figure 1 indicates a breeches buoy equipped with my improvement, and Fig. 2 is a sectional detail of the same.

1 is the main hawser, on which runs the traveler-block 2, from which is suspended the breeches-buoy 3 by means of suspendinglanyards 4, which are attached to the rim of the buoy 3 of the breeches and are fastened into the ring-bolt 2 of the traveler-block.

5 is a cushioning-buoy, preferably an inflated circular rubber buoy, attached at its edges to the supporting-lanyards 4.

6 represents oppositelylocated supports for spacing apart the traveler-block and the cushioning buoy. These supports 6 are preferably made tubular and surround the suspending-lanyards; but they may be of any material and may be otherwise located.

Above the cushioning-buoy is located a source of light 9, which is preferably an electric lamp of the storage type, by means of which the progress of the buoy may be marked, so that the position of the passenger may be noted at night. The light 9 is preferably suspended from the ring-bolt of the traveler-block .and laterally stayed to the strips 6.

In operation the passenger takes his posi tion in the breeches-buoy, as in the ordinary type now in use, and is drawn out along. the main hawser 1 by means of the outhaul 7 or is drawn back by means of the inhaul 8. In case the breeches-buoy is carried on the top of the Wave and the passenger supported by the buoy 3 the cushioning-buoy is still above his-head, protecting him against the downward drop of the traveler-block 2. The supports 6, moreover, hold the traveler-block out of direct contact with the cushioning-buoy, and in case the breeches-buoy and the passenger are lifted unusually high or the travelerblock is dropped unusually low through the sagging of the main hawser the supports '6 compel the block to drop to one side of the cushioning-block rather than to drop straight down, as it normally would. In this manner the passenger is not only protected from the traveler-block, but the light which is attached to the ring-bolt in the traveler-block is also protected against injury by contact with the passenger or with any part of the buoy.

The cushioning-buoy may be of any desirable material or of any convenient shape and may be located between the travelerblock and the breeches at any convenient point.

Various modifications in this and other details may he obviously made without departing from the spirit of my invention.

What I therefore claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a breeches-buoy, the combination with the traveler-block, breeches and suspending-lanyards, of a cushioning device located between said block and breeches.

2. In a breeches-buoy, the combination with the traveler-block, breeches and suspending-lanyards, of a buoyant cushioning device located between said block and breeches.

3. In a breeches-buoy, the combination with the traveler-block, breeches and suspending-lanyards, of a cushioning device supported on said lanyards between said block and breeches.

4. In a breeches-buoy, the combination with the traveler-block, breeches and suspending-lanyards, of a cushioning device supported by the lanyards below said block and a rigid support for said block holding it out of contact with said cushioning device.

5. In a breechesbuoy, the combination with the traveler-block, breeches and suspending-lanyards, of a buoyant cushioning device supported by the lanyards below said block and a rigid support for said block holding it out of contact with said cushioning device.

6. In a breeches-buoy, the combination with the travelerblock, breeches and suspendinglanyards, of a cushioning device supported by the lanyards below said block and a rigid coupling between said block and said cushioning device.

7. In a breeches-buoy, the combination of the-breeches, suspending-lanyards therefor, a source of light located above said breeches, and arigid support for said. source of light -for holding it out of contact with said lanyards joining the two, a cushioning-buoy located between the block and breeches, a source of light located above said cushioningbuoy, and a rigid support for holding said block and light out of contact with said cushioning-buoy.

11. In a breeches-buoy, the combination of a traveler-block, breeches, and suspendinglanyards joining the two, a cushioning-buoy located between the block and breeches, a source of light located above said breeches, and arigid support for holding said block and light out of contact with said breeches.

12. In a breeches-buoy, the combination of a traveler-block, breeches, and suspendinglanyards joining the two, a cushioning-buoy located between the block and breeches, a source of light, and a rigid support for said block and light for holding them out of contact with said cushioningbuoy.

13. In a breeches-buoy, the combination of a traveler-block, breeches, and suspendinglanyards joining the two, a cushioning-buoy located between the block and breeches, and rigid supports applied to said suspendinglanyards between said block and said cushioning-buoy to hold said block out of contact with said cushioning-buoy.

14. In a breeches-buoy, the combination of the traveler-block, the breeches, yielding suspending means for connecting the two and a rigid support located below said block for holding it out of contact with said breeches.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN WVILFRED DALTON.

Witnesses:

VVILLIAM B. Poon, ELLIs SPEAR, Jr. 

